A night full of surprises, UFC 185 crowned two new champions in Dallas, Texas! Anthony Pettis looked completely overwhelmed against the Brazilian, Rafael dos Anjos, and wound up on the wrong side of the decision. Joanna Jedrzejcyzyk dismantled Carla Esparza, stuffing the take downs, and teeing off on the former champ on the feet. The UFC strawweight title has yet to be defended, an Joanna will be the next women’s champion to try and embrace the role. Hometown man, Johny Hendricks, pulled out all the stops to beat Matt Brown; and Alistair Overeem seemed to be on top of his game as he danced circles around Roy Nelson. For full analysis of each fight, the MMA Spotlight breaks it all down for UFC 185.

Rafael dos Anjos defeats Anthony Pettis via Unanimous Decision – Pettis just did not have it tonight, Rafael dos Anjos just literally ripped the title right out of the former UFC champion’s hands. Dos Anjos landed the better strikes, out grappled, and completely handled Anthony Pettis. There is not one phase in this fight where Anthony Pettis had the upper hand, looking completely lost inside the UFC octagon. This concludes the reign of “Showtime” but does this fairy tale end to a fight end here with Rafael dos Anjos? No. Fortunately enough for the new champion, there is an incredible amount of talent in the UFC lightweight division. Anthony Pettis is going to have to go back to the drawing board and figure out how to keep himself up. The raw talent is there with Pettis, but once again it showed that grappling is his serious downfall. Many fights make sense, but the former UFC champ will have to take another fight or two before getting another crack at the belt.

Joanna Jedrzejczyk defeats Carla Esparza via TKO(Strikes) rd.2 – What a performance by the challenger Joanna Jedrzejczyk. She talked the talk throughout the whole process leading up to the first title defense in women’s strawweight history, and boy did she back it up. Carla had no answer on her feet, and could not seem to put a take down together and keep the Polish striking specialist down. Joanna’s take down defense was a thing of beauty, and that is all she really needed to be victorious in this fight. She knew Carla would not be able to stand with her, and she knew that eventually, the UFC champion would fold under the pressure. As the future presses on, the UFC women’s strawweight title has yet to be defended. Hopefully Joanna Jedrzejczyk is the champion doing so.

Johny Hendricks defeats Matt Brown via Unanimous Decision – The old Johny was back, and boy did Dallas love it. Instead of standing toe to toe with brawlers in the welterweight division, Hendricks went back to the basics and his strong wrestling game to win the fight. UFC’s Matt Brown is one of the toughest on the roster, and did everything in his power to finish Hendricks. It just was not enough, in which could set up a potential trilogy against Lawler in the future. It was a relief to see Hendricks use exactly what got him into the UFC, and what could make him a dominant champion in the future.

Alistair Overeem defeats Roy Nelson via Unanimous Decision – With what was thought to be a possible quick fight, these UFC heavyweights put on quite the show for the Dallas faithful. Overeem showed striking that many have not seen from the “Demolition Man” in quite a while, especially since debuting in the UFC. The knees came in abundance, constant low to high kicks were displayed, and pin point accuracy was had by Overeem. Nelson did not exactly give his opponent a moving target though, constantly sitting in front of Overeem’s face and taking punishment. It seemed the tides had turned for a moment towards the end of the third round when Nelson caught Reem and sent him tumbling to the canvas, but Overeem found his composure and was able to survive the round. The win may push the Netherlands product up the UFC heavyweight ranks, while Nelson may take a small dip down the ladder.

Henry Cejudo defeats Chris Cariaso via Unanimous Decision – The former Olympian is not too far away from a UFC flyweight title shot against Demetrious Johnson if he keeps this up. Chris Cariaso just fought against the UFC flyweight champ, and Cejudo rag dolled him around the cage for three rounds. He was the faster and far superior athlete in the cage tonight and it showed. Henry Cejudo has been quite successful thus far in his young career, a title shot is just a matter of time, but a top 10 ranking the division should come almost immediately.

In other notable fights, the “Real Deal” Pearson once again showed that if his hands touch a chin, it could be lights out. Pearson loaded up devastating counter left hook and unloaded it on Stout. The entire UFC prelim card was extravagant, not one single fight went to the judges, leaving it to the UFC main card to continue the show.

Next weekend the UFC heads back overseas to Brazil, as country native Demian Maia takes on a rising prospect in Ryan LaFlare. Josh Koscheck will also step up in short notice to fight another Brazilian, Erick Silva, in the co main event of the night. For fantasy implications and full fight preview, please tune back as the MMA Spotlight continues to provide both for the UFC.